Gender Readings. Top Ten. Ренц Т.Г - 73 стр.

best way to overcome it — so at least seems to me — is to make your
interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the
walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly part of the
universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river-
small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing pas-
sionately past rocks and over water falls. Gradually the river grows
wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the
end, without any visible break, they become part of the sea, and
painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can
see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since
the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the loss of vitality,
weariness increases, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should
wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what
I can no longer do, and content in the thought that what was possible
has been done.

THE AUTHOR
      Bertrand Russell (1882—1970) was Lord Russell, but he did not
use the title. He was Welsh by birth, and his grandfather was twice
Prime Minister of Britain. He was a brilliant mathematician, scientist
and philosopher. In 1950 he received the Nobel Prize for literature.
All his life he was a pacifist and an active opponent of the atom bomb.
Because of his strong opposition to the war of 1914—1918 he was
dismissed from a post as lecturer at Cambridge University and was
sent to prison. He was a professor of philosophy in Peking, and the
headmaster of a progressive school in the south of England. He wrote
and lectured a great deal on science, sociology, psychology and the
history of philosophy. In all his writings he had the gift of making
even difficult subjects dear and interesting.

READING NOTES
      This åssàó gives a good idea of Bertrand Russell’s ability to in-
struct and entertain his readers at the same time. He is deeply sincere,
but he enlivens his remarks by light and humorous illustrations.
      time of life: age.
      cut off: i. e. by death. Russell makes a joke of this phrase when he
repeats it in its literal meaning.


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